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Sailing toward dawn, and I was perched atop the crow's nest, being the ship's eyes. We were two nights out of Sydney, and there'd been no weather to speak of so far. I was keeping watch on a dark stack of nimbus clouds off to the northwest, but we were leaving it far behind, and it looked to be smooth going all the way back to Lionsgate City. Like riding a cloud. . . .
Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a huge airship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean, ferrying wealthy passengers from city to city. It is the life Matt's always wanted; convinced he's lighter than air, he imagines himself as buoyant as the hydrium gas that powers his ship. One night he meets a dying balloonist who speaks of beautiful creatures drifting through the skies. It is only after Matt meets the balloonist's granddaughter that he realizes that the man's ravings may, in fact, have been true, and that the creatures are completely real and utterly mysterious.
In a swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson, Kenneth Oppel, author of the best-selling Silverwing trilogy, creates an imagined world in which the air is populated by transcontinental voyagers, pirates, and beings never before dreamed of by the humans who sail the skies.
Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface.
"Up Ship!" That is the cry of the Aurora crew as the airship takes flight over the Pacificus ocean. Thus begins this adventure of the skies filled with a luxury airship, dedicated crew, rich passengers, greedy pirates, mid-air rescue, shipwreck, and a dead man's discovery of a strange creature. Matt Cruse, a cabin boy who aspires to be sailmaker, is the likable protagonist in this captivating tale. This lighter than air cabin boy proves his mettle when he attempts and succeeds in rescuing an elderly man from a damaged hot air balloon stranded in the sky. Although the man ultimately dies, he leaves behind a journal with entries and sketches of fantastic sightings of flying creatures--half mammal and half reptile. One year later, his granddaughter Kate DeVries, is flying over the Pacificus on the Aurora to try to validate her grandfather's sightings. When this headstrong heroine joins forces with Matt Cruse, sparks fly. They outsmart her dreadful chaperone, defy ship regulations, and battle fierce pirates in moving toward Kate's goal. Matt is an engaging character. His heart is in the right place and he always tries to do the right thing, even in the face of difficult circumstances. When Captain Walken informs him that he has lost his promotion to sailmaker because of nepotism, Matt soldiers on, chin held high, no dereliction in duties. And when facing down pirates and the carnivorous cloud creature, Matt keeps his cool. This recording, which includes ten CDs and lasts ten hours, will leave listeners hanging on the edge of their seats. The voices of the actors bring the characters to life; they are full of enthusiasm, evil intent, haughtiness, and pride, as thesituation demands. The recording has such energy and will transport listeners to a different place and time as they get caught up in this good, old-fashioned, thrilling adventure story. The print version of the book, on which the recording is based, was selected as a Printz Honor Book. Reviewer: Jeanne K. Pettenati, J.D.
Airborn EPB
Chapter OneSailing toward dawn, and I was perched atop the crow's nest, being the ship's eyes. We were two nights out of Sydney, and there'd been no weather to speak of so far. I was keeping watch on a dark stack of nimbus clouds off to the northwest, but we were leaving it far behind, and it looked to be smooth going all the way back to Lionsgate City. Like riding a cloud.
The sky pulsed with stars. Some people say it makes them lonesome when they stare up at the night sky. I can't imagine why. There's no shortage of company. By now there's not a constellation I can't name. Orion. Lupus. Serpens. Hercules. Draco. My father taught me all their stories. So when I look up I see a galaxy of adventures and heroes and villains, all jostling together and trying to outdo one another, and I sometimes want to tell them to hush up and not distract me with their chatter. I've glimpsed all the stars ever discovered by astronomers, and plenty that haven't been. There're the planets to look at too, depending on the time of year. Venus. Mercury. Mars. And don't forget Old Man Moon. I know every crease and pockmark on that face of his.
My watch was almost at an end, and I was looking forward to climbing into my bunk, sliding under warm blankets and into a deep sleep. Even though it was only September and we were crossing the equator, it was still cool at night up in the crow's nest, parting the winds at seventy-five miles an hour. I was grateful for my fleece-lined coat.
Spyglass to my face, I slowly swept the heavens. Here at the Aurora's summit, shielded by a glass observation dome, I had a three-sixtyview of the sky around and above the ship. The lookout's job was to watch for weather changes and for other ships. Over the Pacificus, you didn't see much traffic, though earlier I'd caught the distant flicker of a freighter, ploughing the waves toward the Orient. But boats were no concern of ours. We sailed eight hundred feet above them.
The smell of fresh-baked bread wafted up to me. Far below, in the ship's kitchens, they were taking out the first loaves and rolls and cinnamon buns and croissants and Danishes. I inhaled deeply. A better smell than this I couldn't imagine, and my stomach gave a hungry twist. In a few minutes, Mr. Riddihoff would be climbing the ladder to take the watch, and I could swing past the kitchen and see if the ship's baker was willing to part with a bun or two. He almost always was.
A shooting star slit the sky. That made one hundred and six I'd seen this season; I'd been keeping track. Baz and I had a little contest going, and I was in the lead by twelve stars.
Then I saw it.
Or didn't see it. Because at first all I noticed was a blackness where stars should have been. I raised my spyglass again and, with the help of the moon, caught a glimpse.
It was a hot air balloon, hanging there in the night sky.
Its running lights weren't on, which was odd. The balloon was higher than us by about a hundred feet, drifting off our starboard bow. The burner came on suddenly, jetting blue flame to heat the air in the balloon's envelope for a few seconds. But I couldn't see anyone at the controls. They must have been set on a clockwork timer. Nobody was moving around in the gondola. It was deep and wide, big enough for a kind of sleeping cabin on one side, and plenty of storage underneath. I couldn't ever recall seeing a balloon this far out. I lifted the speaking tube to my mouth.
"Crow's nest reporting."
I waited a moment as my voice hurtled down through the tube, one hundred fifty feet to the control car suspended from the Aurora's belly.
"Go ahead, Mr. Cruse."
It was Captain Walken on watch tonight, and I was glad, for I much preferred him to the other officers. Some of them just called me "Cruse" or "boy," figuring I wasn't worth a "mister" on account of my age. But never the captain. To him I was always Mr. Cruse, and it got so that I'd almost started to think of myself as a mister. Whenever I was back in Lionsgate City on shore leave and my mother or sisters called me Matt, my own name sounded strange to me at first.
"Hot air balloon at one o'clock, maybe a half mile off, one hundred feet up."
"Thank you, Mr. Cruse." There was a pause, and I knew the captain would be looking out the enormous wraparound windows of the control car. Because it was set well back from the bow, its view of anything high overhead was limited. That's why there was always a watch posted in the forward crow's nest. The Aurora needed a set of eyes up top.
"Yes, I see it now. Well spotted, Mr. Cruse. Can you make out its markings? We'll train the light on it."
Mounted at the front of the control car was a powerful spotlight. Its beam cut a blazing swath through the night and struck the balloon. It was in a sorry state, withered and puckered. It was leaking, or maybe the burner wasn't working properly.
"The Endurance," I read into the speaking tube.
She looked like she'd endured a bit too much. Maybe a storm had punctured her envelope or bashed her about some.
And still no sign of the pilot in the gondola.
Along the length of the speaking tube I heard tinny murmurings from the control car as the captain conferred with the bridge officers.
"It's not on the flight plan," I heard Mr. Torbay, the navigator, say.
Airborn EPB. Copyright © by Kenneth Oppel. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.Sailing toward dawn, and I was perched atop the crow's nest, being the ship's eyes. We were two nights out of Sydney, and there'd been no weather to speak of so far. I was keeping watch on a dark stack of nimbus clouds off to the northwest, but we were leaving it far behind, and it looked to be smooth going all the way back to Lionsgate City. Like riding a cloud.
The sky pulsed with stars. Some people say it makes them lonesome when they stare up at the night sky. I can't imagine why. There's no shortage of company. By now there's not a constellation I can't name. Orion. Lupus. Serpens. Hercules. Draco. My father taught me all their stories. So when I look up I see a galaxy of adventures and heroes and villains, all jostling together and trying to outdo one another, and I sometimes want to tell them to hush up and not distract me with their chatter. I've glimpsed all the stars ever discovered by astronomers, and plenty that haven't been. There're the planets to look at too, depending on the time of year. Venus. Mercury. Mars. And don't forget Old Man Moon. I know every crease and pockmark on that face of his.
My watch was almost at an end, and I was looking forward to climbing into my bunk, sliding under warm blankets and into a deep sleep. Even though it was only September and we were crossing the equator, it was still cool at night up in the crow's nest, parting the winds at seventy-five miles anhour. I was grateful for my fleece-lined coat.
Spyglass to my face, I slowly swept the heavens. Here at the Aurora's summit, shielded by a glass observation dome, I had a three-sixty view of the sky around and above the ship. The lookout's job was to watch for weather changes and for other ships. Over the Pacificus, you didn't see much traffic, though earlier I'd caught the distant flicker of a freighter, ploughing the waves toward the Orient. But boats were no concern of ours. We sailed eight hundred feet above them.
The smell of fresh-baked bread wafted up to me. Far below, in the ship's kitchens, they were taking out the first loaves and rolls and cinnamon buns and croissants and Danishes. I inhaled deeply. A better smell than this I couldn't imagine, and my stomach gave a hungry twist. In a few minutes, Mr. Riddihoff would be climbing the ladder to take the watch, and I could swing past the kitchen and see if the ship's baker was willing to part with a bun or two. He almost always was.
A shooting star slit the sky. That made one hundred and six I'd seen this season; I'd been keeping track. Baz and I had a little contest going, and I was in the lead by twelve stars.
Then I saw it.
Or didn't see it. Because at first all I noticed was a blackness where stars should have been. I raised my spyglass again and, with the help of the moon, caught a glimpse.
It was a hot air balloon, hanging there in the night sky.
Its running lights weren't on, which was odd. The balloon was higher than us by about a hundred feet, drifting off our starboard bow. The burner came on suddenly, jetting blue flame to heat the air in the balloon's envelope for a few seconds. But I couldn't see anyone at the controls. They must have been set on a clockwork timer. Nobody was moving around in the gondola. It was deep and wide, big enough for a kind of sleeping cabin on one side, and plenty of storage underneath. I couldn't ever recall seeing a balloon this far out. I lifted the speaking tube to my mouth.
"Crow's nest reporting."
I waited a moment as my voice hurtled down through the tube, one hundred fifty feet to the control car suspended from the Aurora's belly.
"Go ahead, Mr. Cruse."
It was Captain Walken on watch tonight, and I was glad, for I much preferred him to the other officers. Some of them just called me "Cruse" or "boy," figuring I wasn't worth a "mister" on account of my age. But never the captain. To him I was always Mr. Cruse, and it got so that I'd almost started to think of myself as a mister. Whenever I was back in Lionsgate City on shore leave and my mother or sisters called me Matt, my own name sounded strange to me at first.
"Hot air balloon at one o'clock, maybe a half mile off, one hundred feet up."
"Thank you, Mr. Cruse." There was a pause, and I knew the captain would be looking out the enormous wraparound windows of the control car. Because it was set well back from the bow, its view of anything high overhead was limited. That's why there was always a watch posted in the forward crow's nest. The Aurora needed a set of eyes up top.
"Yes, I see it now. Well spotted, Mr. Cruse. Can you make out its markings? We'll train the light on it."
Mounted at the front of the control car was a powerful spotlight. Its beam cut a blazing swath through the night and struck the balloon. It was in a sorry state, withered and puckered. It was leaking, or maybe the burner wasn't working properly.
"The Endurance," I read into the speaking tube.
She looked like she'd endured a bit too much. Maybe a storm had punctured her envelope or bashed her about some.
And still no sign of the pilot in the gondola.
Along the length of the speaking tube I heard tinny murmurings from the control car as the captain conferred with the bridge officers.
"It's not on the flight plan," I heard Mr. Torbay, the navigator, say.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Airborn by Kenneth Oppel Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
"Airborn" is a great book for young adults who like adventure stories. This book has a little bit of romance and a lot of adventure. I'd say "Airborn" is 5 out of 5. I was sad when I got close to the end of the book because I didn't want it to over, I wanted to keep reading. In "Airborn" Matt Cruse, a cabin boy among a passenger airliner meets a girl who is hot on the trail her grandfather set for to see what he saw. "Beautiful creatures". The lady's name is Kate de Vries. Kate and Matt become friends and Matt takes an interest in Kate's creatures and helps her on the quest of finding them.Kate had set up a camera hoping to catch a photograph of the creatures. But something happen in her favor. The crew and passengers are all in distress except for Kate de Vries.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 15, 2011
This was a really really REALLY good book!!! The kind that you enjoy so much that you can't wait to get back to reading it and you think about it when you're not reading it. I was sad to finish it, but luckily, there's two more in the series. I'm now reading the sequel, Skybreaker, and yes, it is even better than Airborn!! Kenneth Oppel makes me wish I could fly on his wonderful airships, and his writing is so good that I can actually see and imagine them in my mind - the best kind of writing.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 9, 2010
This book is amazing! I read more then half the book within 3 hours,over the summer.I was so hooked and this book turned me to adventure novels. I recommend this to anyone who has read any type of adventure or is even just getting used to it,because this book will change your reading habits!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 26, 2010
I Also Recommend:
After reading the first chapter i was hooked. There was excitment after every turn of the page. You feel like your right there throughout the entire adventure, right along with the action, love, and triumph. I believe this is movie material.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 9, 2012
Great book
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Posted January 26, 2012
Kenneth Oppel is an amazing writer. He is my new favorite and this book does not disappoint.
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Posted January 24, 2012
Best book ever!!!!!!
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Posted January 18, 2012
Please respond!
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Posted January 12, 2012
I think it only took me about 3 days to read this book because I was up until midnight every single night reading! I could never put it down and read every spare minute I could, absolutely obbsessed! It was one of the best books I have ever read! Matt is adorable and him and Kate are perfect for each other! I'm getting the next book tomorrow and the minutes can't come fast enough! I reccommend this story to everyone! (I owe my librarian big time because he found this book for me!)
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Posted January 9, 2012
Like the action was really a good book to me i think any one will like it.
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Posted January 3, 2012
This book really captivated me because I love flying. I'm a 12yr. old and I loved it.
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Posted January 3, 2012
It's got this exciting life of daring chacters that are each to there own and grasp your heart in some way from the moment you meet them. Then just mixing it in with a heart pumping, page turning polt. This book is a winner all a round.
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Posted December 28, 2011
Beyond amazing!!!!!!!!!!
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Posted November 6, 2011
This is one of my favorite books of all time!
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Posted September 23, 2011
A really enjoyable series, loved all three, wish they would make a movie!
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Posted August 4, 2011
This is one of my favorite series books ever!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.What an adventure!! And what storytelling. :)
Kenneth Oppel has a wonderful way with words--it is so easy to lose myself in this book. The imagery is stunning and all the actions and dialogue happen so smoothly and naturally.
The characters were fresh and marvelous -- who can resist Matt? :3
All in all, I'm so glad I have finally found my way into this trilogy. It seems like it will be such a fun read. I can't wait to pick up the next one! :D
6265706
Posted December 31, 2010
I enjoyed this book very very much. It was a great balance of adventure, mystery, and a little bit of romance.
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Posted December 3, 2010
The book is awsom! The first few pages just kept me reading. I highly recommend reading the whole series.
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Posted January 20, 2010
The book Airborn by Kenneth Opal takes place in the 1930's on an airship called the Aurora. The story also takes place at an island in the Pacific Ocean. The story starts when matt, (the main character), swings through the air to a dying balloonist in a hot air balloon from the aurora. The dying man speaks of flying creatures that matt has never heard have. One year later matt, still on the aurora, witnesses a spectacular landing of an ornithopter with two of the most important passengers, Miss. Simpkins and Kate De Vries. Later on in the cruise matt learns the position he's wanted is taken by Otto Lundardi (the owner of the aurora)'s son, Vince. After the vexing news, Matt takes his shift in the crow's nest and pots a pirate air ship. He quickly relays the news to the captain. Matt is told to lock the hatch and desert the crows nest to prepare to get boarded. The pirates turn out to be szpirglas's band, one of the most feared pirates ever. When departing the small ship gets hit by a gust of wind. The wind causes the airship to ram, propellers first, into the aurora. The sudden loss of their precious lifting gas they slowly start to descend, matt spots an island they can land. Matt and Kate go exploring, they find a skeleton of o the creature the dying balloonist spoke of. The balloonist turned out to be Kate's grandfather. Kate is very excited about the discovery. During yet another storm, the aurora gets damaged again. During the storm, matt and Kate hide in a cave that seems to have a hydrium, (precious lifting gas). They the report the find to the captain. When matt and Kate go back to find the hydruim again when two pirates, of szpirglas's group, catch matt and Kate. Turns out the pirates were on the other side of the island the whole time. Matt and Kate escape death from enclosed hydrium ditch by using a shirt as a float. As they escape, they catch a glimpse of their mysterious animal. They decide to name it the cloud cat. Matt, Kate, and Vince fight off the pirates that have taken over the ship. During the fight Vince gets shot and dies. It is a very tragic ending to their stay on the island. Matt and szpirglas have a fight on the edge off the ship. Mat kills him by pushing him off and just in time making it back to the control car to keep the ship from crashing. In a short period of time matt is faced with adventure, love, and danger.
I thought the book Airborn was an all around great book. Three good parts of this book were; the author made you want to keep turning the pages. The book also had a lot of action, for example either Matts fighting off pirates or swinging to a balloon, he is always doing something exciting. Another reason I liked was because it was very intriguing. The author used writing devices such as cliff hangars to keep you thinking about the book. The book had a few negatives. One was that the time period was awkward, they had beautiful airships but no airplanes, they also had ornithopters, witch don't exist except for toys. Another negative would be the setting, they don't give exactly where they are, or when their there. The last negative would be the repetitive. The book repeats its self many times. One time it repeats is when matt falls off the ship two times in a row.
Overview
Sailing toward dawn, and I was perched atop the crow's nest, being the ship's eyes. We were two nights out of Sydney, and there'd been no weather to speak of so far. I was keeping watch on a dark stack of nimbus clouds off to the northwest, but we were leaving it far behind, and it looked to be smooth going all the way back to Lionsgate City. Like riding a cloud. . . .
Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a huge airship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean, ferrying wealthy passengers from city to city. It is the life Matt's always wanted; convinced he's lighter than air, ...